Twisted Fate
by An Always Short Little Bo
Summary: Nine teenagers, the best friends in the world, live ordinary lives in Rune-Midgard. Everything was normal until the death of a friend and Payon was blamed. That was the start of this shattered friendship...


Twisted Fate  
Please refer to www.ragnarokonline.com for some information ^_^  
  
I ventured onwards on the hot sand of a desert, my feet ached from every step I took, and my body was shivering. My torn cotton shirt was dirty and torn, but I had no zeny to get a new one. I never knew where I was going to end up because I never had a destination in mind. Even if I had one, I would never know how to get there anyways. I was born an orphan, my mom left the world of Rune-Midgard shortly after my birth. No one wanted me, because I didn't listen very well. I always thought my ideas were always right, and I never thought about anyone but myself. In fact, I was pretty selfish. Because of that, no one liked me very much and I was already facing this complicated world when I just learned how to walk. I attempted to meet friends, but I never got a chance to tell them who I was before they started to laugh at me. Sometimes, I would get beatings for annoying a stranger, other times I got people trying to steal my Claymore. But my Claymore was always beside me, hitting people by it when I was in danger and the thieves always ran at the end. My Claymore was magical and always protected me from many dangers. My body ached from the wounds I had from the last beating, after asking for any left over food or spare change they could spare me. My stomach growled, yet again and my throat hurt from the lack of water. For days, I had been starving and my thirst was burning my poor throat. But, when I was about to die of thirst, dark clouds would cover the sky and rain would pour down. Gladly, using all my strength, I would pull out my Claymore, something my mom left for me before she died. Using the case, I would attempt to catch as much rain water as I could with it, and opening my mouth, hoping some would drop in. My thirst never cleared. When I needed a pinch, I get droplets and when I needed a quart, I get a pinch. The water was gave me enough strength for me to move on, but my throat continued to burn with thirst. Hunger, was another problem. I hadn't eaten well for as long as I could remember. Starvation hurt my poor stomach. But I always I managed to find something in the very last moments. An apple would drop from a tree, or a poring would come bouncing up to me, hurt and all I had to do was slice it with my half broken knife. The food gave me the nutrients and power to move on, and someday, someday, I knew someone would come and rescue me. But until then, I had to stay strong, and patiently wait. My foot took another step, and my body grew a little big weaker. Rain hadn't drop for days, and I knew Porings didn't bounce on the desert. I kneeled down, and attempted to rest. But I was restless; my mind kept echoing the words that I hear everyday from strangers, "You are so useless, you are bound to be found dead somewhere!" They were right, I should never have tried to survive, and I should have just died painlessly when I got the chance. Why did my mom born a useless piece of shit like me? For the last time, I stared up at the hot sun, burning at me. I bet even the sun was laughing at me. All of a sudden, everything turned black and I laid down on the soft, hot sand and let God take me to where I was supposed to go. My eyes twitched and my ear heard voices. "Hey, he's waking up! Yo, buddy, alive there?" My eyes opened and a fat boy came to view. "Hey there! Guess you are alive. My name is Payon, and you are?" I crawled as far back from the bed I was lying on as possible and pulled out my knife. "How are you guys? Why am I here?" "No worries," a girl laughed. "We found you lying in the sand and we brought you were. God, I thought you were a goner." Another boy laughed while waving a Blade around. "Rya, boys aren't as weak as you think. We don't give up that easily. I bet he is going to become a swordsman soon." "Stop playing with that thing, Blades," I looked over to my right. There was another boy holding a bow. "Geezes, if you hate him, then chop him. Or, I'd shoot him with my bow." He grinned and I stepped back and tried to cover as much of my body as possible with my broken knife. "Geezes, stop scaring him like that! You remembered what it was like when YOU were like this?" I looked over to my left. There was another girl! How many people were trying to take my Claymore this time? "Miraka, calm down," I looked over to my right again and I saw a boy, kneeling on the floor looking at a gem. "I know he's a boy and you are eager but." BAM! Miraka went over to the boy and hit him hard in the gut. "Now, you, can shut up," she said with a grin and looked back to me. I pulled my knife higher, trying to protect myself.  
"Stay, away!" I said, trying to sound tough.  
"There is nothing to worry about," Miraka started with a gentle voice. "We are orphans, just like you. Rya and I bumped into each other one day and we decided to help each other out. As days went on, we were closer and closer and when we found a three-carat diamond on the floor, we sold it for money and bought this wooden house with it. We were very lucky. Alright, I admit the house isn't in the best of shape, but hey, at least we are in Alberta, a nice silent town. Anyways, I am Miraka, if you never noticed. Back there, the boy who I punched was Skoo and Evol is right beside him. Every one here except for Rya and I were all like you, lying down on a desert and we met each other and they started to live with us. So, what is your name?"  
I hadn't spoke my name to anyone before. My mom told me before she died and engraved it on my Claymore. I knew these were the people who I was waiting for all along. I was saved. Gladly, I opened my mouth and said my name in the most triumphant voice I had, "My name is Paroid."  
  
* Ten Years Later *  
  
For the one hundredth time today, I whined. "What the hell, Payon? We have been walking through Prontera for like what? The past eight years, and we HAVEN'T got thirteen steps away from the fountain yet. Why? You just have to nose around the merchants and buy all the food they have. We are not Bill Gates, part of that is OUR money."  
"Shut up, Paroid. I am a growing boy, stop whining and the exaggerating. Now quit the math, I am trying to eat in peace." Payon replied, munching on a candy cane.  
I sighed. "Do you have any idea where that candy cane came from? Those Santa Porings store them somewhere in there body, and you never know if they are poisonous you know."  
"I have been munching on candy canes for the best decade. Paroid, you worry too much, now you can run home and tell the others to carry me back. I am tired. I will wait here for you, while you get reinforcements."  
"Oh my god, some knight YOU are, no wonder no one lends you a Pecopeco to ride on. They get squished in a matter of seconds."  
"You are not much better. Look, the more you talk the more energy you use, so now go home, ask the others to come and carry me home. Hey, I'd give you a plan, just tell Shishkabob to come here; she'd warp me home easily. Haha, I am so smart, for once!"  
I sighed, yet again. How lazy could Payon get? He couldn't even lift up his right hand (that was where he put his watch device), hit a button which allows party-talk and tell Shishkabob to come here. How easy was that? Blah, this is going to be the LAST time I am helping him, the absolute last time.  
Casually, I lift up the watch and hit the button which enabled party- chat. "Hey Shish, mind warping to Prontera for a second? Payon needs your help, again."  
"Wow, we paid ten thousand zeny for nothing. He doesn't even USE his device. All he does is go to some town and buy food to eat, can't we just like, get rid of him?" She laughed, it was a joke, at least I thought it was.  
"I HEARD THAT!" Payon roared. "I'll walk then, no need for you help. Paroid, come here and lift me up. Then, go over to one of those nice Acolytes and tell them to warp us to Alberta. Then, we'd WALK home."  
"Thanks, Shish. You made my job a lot easier." I replied sarcastically and jumped up onto my Pecopeco.  
"You are welcome, I always loved to help." Shishkabob replied coolly. "I'll be back home shortly."  
After paying the Acolyte eight hundred zeny, I managed to push Payon into the warp portal. I stepped in, and felt my body get transported out of Prontera.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Welcome home," Rya opened the door with a bow in her hand and a cup of water in the other. Her falcon was flying above her head, with its eyes eyeing on Payon. I bet it was thinking what I was thinking, "What a lazy butt." I shoved Payon in and grabbed the cup of water before Payon did. I was always faster than Payon, maybe because of the fact he was too lazy.  
"I need it more than you, now give that to me!" Payon punched me in the stomach and the glass of water ended up in his hands. "Thanks, next time I want something and I don't get it, this ends up in the stomach, not my fist." He waved his Flamberge around.  
"Not before I shoved this in your stomach first," I replied and waved my Claymore around. "But I shouldn't, your fat will blind my eyes."  
"You two, can stop fighting." Miraka appeared from her room with a stilletto in her hand. "Or this, ends up in both your stomachs."  
I laughed, "Whoa, easy, Miraka. You can't go through Payon's stomach, too much flab."  
"Can you shut up about my stomach? Is it my fault I am a growing boy?" Payon shot back.  
"Payon, you are a knight, I don't think you'll grow anymore." I yelled. I was about to discriminate him even more but then my watch device rang loudly. "Yeah, what now?"  
"We found an Angeling! We can probably get an angel wing for Miraka now. Bring everyone here, Paroid, we need some help, and, please make it quick. Evol's firewall won't hold the Poporings for a very long time." It was Blades. I checked my watch again; they were in the second field of Payon, not very far from here.  
"Oh, no you don't! I am not getting out of this comfortable position I am in now. I think the five of you can handle the Angelings pretty well. So, you guys go bulldoze the Angelings, and I'll stay here and wait. Oh yeah, bring back some candy canes or grapes will ya? I am starving." Payon replied in the watch lazily.  
"Wow, comfortable position eh?" Skoo's voice came up loudly from my watch. "Who are you on right now? Rya or Miraka? Oh wait, I know, both of them."  
"Skoo, wait 'till I get your hands on you!" Miraka shouted in the device angrily. "Payon is just sitting down on MY chair, not in other weird positions that you are thinking of."  
"Aw." Evol came in. "What a big disappointment, I thought you'd like the sound of being under Payon. After all, you are in part of the Payon fan club too aren't you? Wait, never mind, I have said too much."  
"Evol, you are next," Rya talked silently into the device. She was always the shy type. "Maybe we'll just wait until your magic runs out. Then, you'll all be running away, and I'll actually sit down and LAUGH."  
"Just come," Ramza's voice boomed from my watch. "I wanna go home quickly, and drink some milk."  
"Alright, enough, out the door, both of you!" Rya pushed Payon and I out the door and shoved our equipment into our faces.  
"Aww... but I just got in!" Payon whined, throwing his Flamberge back in the house.  
"We need to take care of business, time to get MY angel wings!" Miraka cracked her knuckles and threw the Flamberge back out. "Now let's GO!"  
"Aww. do I have to?" Payon whined again. "Can't I just." Payon saw the flame in Miraka's eyes. "Alright, I'll go, just don't punch me in gut, it really hurts. So who's going to carry me through this journey?" Miraka and Rya glared at me. "What, why me?" I said innocently. "You are the one with the Pecopeco, shove him on and he can ride there," Miraka explained. I followed Miraka's orders and did just that. Using all my strength, I picked up Payon and threw him onto my Pecopeco. I sighed, my poor Pecopeco had to carry that thing around. Before I knew it, my Pecopeco collapsed onto the floor, fainted because of the huge weight it had to carry. Angrily, I shouted, "Oh my god! Payon! YOU ARE WALKING, PERIOD!" "No, now you have the honor to carry me." Payon answered coolly and read my mind. "Without me, you may never get the angel wings Miraka wants, you know how lucky I can get, I can assure that the Angeling drops an angel wing." Payon was always the lucky one, he could kill a monster and get whatever he wanted. But, there was NO WAY was I going to carry that blob to the field, absolutely no way! I promised myself I would never help him again, and I would keep my promise! I looked back at Rya and Miraka and made a face. They laughed and nodded at me. With steam boiling under my helmet, I sighed, yet again. Now, I had to carry Payon manually, I just couldn't wait.  
  
* * * *  
  
My arms ached, my eyes were bulging, my feet felt like stones, making a huge earthquake every step I took and my whole face was red like a carrot. I had never experienced this PAIN; at least I thought it was pain. Payon, was the heaviest dude, I had ever carried. Sure, it was easy carrying my Claymore, all my equipment and a pile of junk everywhere. But this was heavier than I ever imagined anything was. Before I knew it, I was out of strength and I put Payon down for a break.  
"Hey, lazy butt, we have an Angeling schedule to catch here? With this break, we won't get pretty far! Now let's get moving! GOGOGO!" Payon hurried me.  
"Oh, look who's talking? Mr. Lazy ass, how about we try the exact opposite of this, I lie down while you carry me!" I suggested.  
"I am the one who can get the angel wing; you aren't, so shut up and carry me! GOGOGO!"  
"Shut up, BOTH OF YOU!" Rya screamed. "Paroid, carry him, pleaseeeee?" She used those cute yet evil ugly duckling eyes. Immediately, I picked up Payon from the ground and started walking. Why do those eyes of Rya's always worked on me? Someday, just someday, it wouldn't work!  
After minutes, which seemed more like centuries with the blob in my destroyed hands, we arrived. Finally, we arrived! I thought I would never have made it that far. Immediately, I threw Payon onto the soft grass. "Now, grab the angel wing, and then start your long journey walking home," I commanded. "On the way back, grab me some red herbs, my Pecopeco needs it, after what you have done to it."  
"Get it yourself, you got HANDS," Payon shot back.  
"Not anymore, you destroyed them."  
"Geezes crise! Stop fighting!" Shishkabob yelled. "We need help on the Angeling, now get to it."  
"Why don't YOU go injure it bad, and I'd finish it off and get the angel wing, sounds fair to me," Payon replied.  
"I am a priest, I am not supposed to fight, and I couldn't even if I tried, so get to it!"  
"MAKE ME!"  
"Oh, I'll make you," I grinned evilly and held up my Claymore which was glowing.  
"Fine, fine, I'll get to work. I still don't get why you need nine people to kill an Angeling. You whipped out the Poporing mob already!" Payon asked.  
"This one is weird," Blades suggested. "All of us could only do one damage to it. I don't know why, it's either we got weaker, the Angeling got stronger, or our devices are busted."  
"Let me try, stand back," Rya held up her bow and aimed. "Double Strafe!" Like lightning, two arrows shot our from her crossbow and the arrows flew towards the poor Angeling."  
"Say bye bye," Payon said looking and stood up. "I got the Angel Wing."  
As the arrow closed in, I was expecting a bull's eye shot, one hit KO. Suddenly, the Angeling jumped and did a somersault dodging the first arrow and a back flip dodging the other.  
"Holy shit, Matrix, some Angeling," Rya was shocked.  
"Stand back, and let me try the Soul Strike!" Evol gritted his teeth and made a fist. "I will hit him this time, I SWEAR!"  
Skoo kicked him away. "You tried a billion times and said that for two trillion; you did no damage AT ALL. You are a disgrace, go away!" He laughed and kicked Evol onto the floor.  
"Huh?" Evol replied. "Hey, that's not nice!"  
I sighed. "Why don't we let Payon do something for once?" I suggested. "For ONCE!"  
"Yeah, Paroid is right, for ONCE," Miraka teased. "We carried you here, and you should finish the job. What the. what are you doing with that candy cane?!"  
"Oh, nothing," Payon replied casually. He got out his Flamberge and sliced a Santa Poring into two. Candy canes and candies filled the green grass. He picked up a candy cane and poured droplets of clean substance onto it and threw away the empty bottle. "I heard from merchants that Santa Porings dropped great candy canes. They weren't lying."  
I grabbed Payon by his opening of his over sized full plate. "Get to the Angeling, right now, or you'd be eating DUST for the rest of your life." I let him go and stood behind my friends. Wow, I need to cool off; I didn't have to do that to Payon to get him moving.  
"Fine, fine, sheesh, you don't have to yell," Payon answered. Casually, he walked up to the Angeling. "Good, poring, yes, that's the way, stay calm, and let me. BOWLING BASH!" Rising his Flamberge, Payon sliced at the Angeling with his best attack. BOOM! The Angeling was all ready for the attack and reflected Payon all the way to my friends.  
"Holy.shit, some Angeling," I yelled, amazed. "Holy crud, WATCH OUT!" BAM, I was too late, Payon hit Evol right in the gut and he went flying. Just like a chain reaction, all my friends were hit and flew straight at me. "TURN AWAY, I AM INNONCENT!"  
"I wish we could!" Ramza shouted back. "But can't you see we are a little. out of control?"  
"This makes quiet a journey, at least we don't have to walk," Skoo laughed as if this was a normal occasion.  
"In no time Skoo, you are going to become Payon the second!" Rya replied.  
"Get out of the way, for heaven sakes! YOU GOT A BRAIN!" Payon yelled. "Not my fault the stupid Angeling can reflect attacks! IT IS OVERWEIGHT!"  
"Like you!" I answered. "Don't tell me I didn't warn all of you!" I threw away my Claymore to the sides and prepared to make the biggest hit of my whole life. "BOWLING BASH!" KABOOM! My friends went flying straight back at the Angeling. "DIEEEEEEE!" Payon and the others landed butt first on the Angeling and it exploded into a billion pieces. "Haha, take that!"  
"Ewwwwwwww." Shishkabob complained and stood up. "I am covered with Angeling blob!"  
"Stop whining," Blades said wiping himself clean. "I look like a girl now with pink blob on me! Thanks a lot, Paroid. OUCH, what the. what was that for, Miraka?"  
"Don't be so rude," she said happily. "He got me an angel wing, SEE!!!" She showed her new angel wings off to Ramza, Rya, Evol and Skoo, who were helped up one by one by Blades.  
"Help you dust yourself off," Blades said to Rya and started to throw pink blobs everywhere.  
"Thanks," Rya replied silently.  
"Anything for you, Rya," He teased and gave Rya a wink.  
I heard a groan from underneath Blades. "What's that?" I jumped into alert mode and held my Claymore close in front of me.  
"Me, you numbskulls," I heard Payon's voice under the mess of feet. "Thanks for standing on me, I am not the ground." Immediately, my friends jumped off Payon.  
"Sorry man," Blades apologized.  
"You can start apologizing by stop teasing and touching Rya," he muttered. "Next time, don't step on me, I am a human, not part of the floor."  
I laughed. "Sorry, Payon. But you can't blame them, you blend in so well with the big mush of Angeling blob." Everyone else joined in with me, but Payon.  
  
* * * *  
  
Payon jumped onto Miraka's chair. "What a day, I am starving."  
"Aren't you always?" I shot back coolly.  
"Can't you guys stop fighting for a second?" Shishkabob asked.  
"NO!" We both yelled back together. "Oh my god, HMPH!"  
"Hey, calm down," Miraka suggested happily. "It's my happy day, let's celebrate!"  
"YEAH, GOOD IDEA!" Payon jumped up from his chair. "FOOOOODDDDDD!"  
"You are supplying it," I muttered coldly.  
"Fine, I will," Payon stood up onto Miraka's chair. "Hohohoho, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" He started to throw a candy cane to everyone, even me.  
"Suits you right, being Santa Clause," I laughed and got ready to take a huge bite from the candy cane.  
"Hey, I thought someone thought candy canes were poisonous," Payon came and snatched my candy cane. "Be safe, Paroid, it's not good for you. Here Blades, catch!" Kindly, he threw the candy cane to Blades. "I am full for today, you can have it."  
"Thanks," Blade said. He turned to Rya. "You want to share this, bite by bite?" He teased and wrapped his arm around Rya.  
Rya blushed violently. "No, thanks," She said quietly.  
"Hands off!" Payon shouted and kicked Blades hand off Rya's shoulders. "Stop harassing her, geezes, she is your FRIEND, not a toy."  
"Wow, flames," I whistled.  
"I smell a challenge, guess someone is jealous," Blades laughed.  
"He always is," I joined in laughing. "Stop touching Rya, or else he is going to get even more jealous."  
"Shut up," Rya blushed and went into her room. "I am tired, I am going to bed."  
"G'night then," Payon said.  
"Sweet dreams, Payon, and everyone," she replied smiling.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Paroid!" Ramza shook me up.  
"What?" I said sleepily. "Oh my god, it's still dark outside, let me sleep, I am tired too!"  
"I can't sleep! Stand up with me!" Ramza begged.  
"What? Why me? Why is it always me?"  
"I dunno, guess you are our lucky one."  
"Blah, go get yourself a glass of milk and you can sleep then I bet."  
"I can't! I drank ten liters already! If I drink anymore, I will start puking."  
"Man, you are such a pain in the gut. Fine, I'll talk you to sleep."  
"So, how was your day?"  
"The day just started, dumbass."  
"Whatever, how was yesterday?"  
"The usual, but it's always great around you guys."  
"Ha, wouldn't it be better without Payon?"  
"Nah, he makes it better, and keeps me busy."  
"Doesn't he bother you?"  
"No, guess not."  
"Wow, you are the only one who can actually withstand his laziness."  
"Oh well, everyone got bad qualities."  
"You got none."  
"Stop lying, I do have one." "Yeah, let's hear it."  
"Well, I feel like a spare tire, always."  
"Yeah, here we go again."  
"I am serious, if we choose partners while doing anything, I will always be left out." I started.  
"Hey, you can always manage on your own."  
"Well, I get lonely, sometimes."  
"Hey, not my fault, it's Payon who always comes and chooses me. I guess I am his size. Besides, it isn't yours either, it's not your fault people don't pick you."  
"Yeah it is, if I am more kind and nice to others, people will be eager to pick me as partner. Instead, I make people angry and pissed off, so people hate me so I am alone."  
Ramza sighed. "Yeah.whatever, you always bend the facts."  
"But it's the truth! Look, when have I lied to you?"  
"Too many times, I forgot."  
"Yeah, name me one. I can't think of any since I told you rolling down the stairs didn't hurt and was fun instead. I didn't lie either! It IS fun, just, it does hurt." I recalled back the old memories with my pals. Geezes, I was so lucky to have a group of friends as good as this one. "You remember the time when you forced milk down my throat? You said it was good, but you never knew I was lactose intolerant." I laughed. "Ramza? Ramza? Geezes, you just have to sleep when I am wide awake. Thanks." I stood up and headed to the washroom. Accidentally, I stepped on Blades, who was sound asleep, very rare for Blades. He always blabbed all night. "Sorry, Blades, wow you are quiet for tonight. Holy shit! Blades! SPEAK TO ME!" I turned on the lights. "Ramza, Skoo, Evol, EVERYONE! Get up quick!" I kicked Payon. "WAKE UP, FATTY! FOR HEAVEN SAKES, THIS IS LIFE AND DEATH HERE!"  
"What?" Payon spoke sleepily. "Don't ever do that again. This better be worth is. What's up?"  
"Yeah, man, I am tired, what's up?" Evol asked.  
"I accidentally stepped on Blades while going to the washroom. He haven't talked a single word since the party and now he is out cold! His face doesn't look too good either." I explained.  
"Well, get Shishkabob! Hurry up!" Rya yelled.  
"Right, where is she?" I slammed into her room, empty. "The hell, why is she never here when we need her?"  
Rya started crying. "No! Blades can't die! Get Shishkabob, wherever she was!"  
Miraka checked her watch device. "She is out at the balcony!"  
I dashed to the balcony. There was Shishkabob, standing on the balcony and staring up at the bright stars. "Can't sleep either, Paroid? I always come out here when I can't sleep. The stars are awfully weird tonight, something tells me after tonight, everything is going to change."  
"No time to explain, GET IN!" I pulled her into the house. "Can you do anything to help Blades? He is out cold."  
"What happened?" She asked and immediately started to lay down her supplies. "Aw.this doesn't look good."  
I explained what happened, as quickly as possible. "How is he?" Skoo asked worriedly.  
Shishkabob shook her head and broke into tears. Something told me that this was not going to be a pleasant night. "Horrible, I.don't think he can last through the night."  
Miraka was third to start crying. "What.he was still fine when we were having the party! He was sitting right over there and was just fine! What. what could happen to BLADES?" She went right beside Shishkabob and shook her. "Do something Shish, please! I beg you! He is your friend too!"  
"I.wish I could!" She explained between sobs. "But. the food poison is too serious. No. one can help him now!"  
They all joined in crying. Blades, was going to die. I felt so useless, I knew my friend was going to die. But what could I do? I was just standing there, waiting for god to take care of him. I had to do something. "Blades!" I yelled into his ears. "Blades! Speak to me! God, speak to me, JUST ONE WORD, ANYTHING! Just tell me you are going to be okay, and that this is all a joke!" I continued to shake him, using all my strength to try to wake him up. "C'mon! Wake up!"  
I felt Blades's hand start to tremble. "BLADES!" I yelled. "Oh my god, are you okay?"  
"Hey," Blades said weakly. "Wow, you don't have to stand so close to me, what's wrong?" Blades laughed but then his laugh was covered by a lot of wincing.  
"Are.you okay?" Payon asked, kindly.  
"Just fine," Blades's replied, but his words were weak. "I can beat you up right now if I wanted to."  
"No, Blades's SERIOUSLY!"  
"Hey, is it just me.or is it snowing outside?" Blades's asked. "Wow, sure is getting cold, turn up the heat will ya, Ramza?" I turned around and looked out the door window. It was too dark, I couldn't see a thing. Then, it hit me. I read it somewhere in a book. First, it was hallucination, then loss of heat, after, the person would be gone. I stood, shocked. How could Blades die? He was joking thirty seconds ago, I SWEAR!  
Ramza rushed to the heater and turned it on full blast. After, he ran and dumped all the blankets and shirts he found onto Blades's. "If there is anything else you want, just ask."  
"Thanks," Blades replied, his voice was weaker than ever. "Whoa, is it just me, or is everyone like. fading?"  
"BLADES!" We all yelled. "BLADES!"  
"I.am.okay." He said, but then his eyes lid started to close, slowly, but I could tell he wasn't going to make it. He clenched his chest, it was obviously a poison.  
"Yo, Blades," Skoo said casually, as if nothing is happening. I could tell, however, he was trying to lie to himself. His eyes were all red. "Enough of the acting, get up! You promised you were going to kick the ass out of me in killing the most Porings in thirty seconds. Get up now, and we shall duel!"  
Blades attempted to laugh, but a cough came up instead. Blood spluttered from his mouth onto the floor. "Oh.boy," He said to himself. "I. am in trouble.but hey.I'll.be.okay.right, Shish?"  
"Yeah, you always are!" Shishkabob said, wiping her tears so Blades wouldn't see. "You are going to be just okay!"  
I walked to Shishkabob. "You serious about that?"  
"No," She said and burst into tears again. "Why? WHY?! Why does every bad thing happen to us? First, it was the evil Angeling, now THIS!"  
I couldn't help it. My first tear dropped onto the ground. "He's going to be just fine," I lied, fighting back the tears. "Just.fine."  
"Yeah." Blades repeated. "I am going..to.be just.fine." He coughed, more blood. His eyelids were closing, he wasn't going to make it. He took a deep breath, and tried to say his last word, "Nev.neve.never.mind." With that, his breathe was cut short, his hand slammed onto the floor from his chest. God had taken Blades and had left our dreaded world.  
"BLADES!" We all shouted. I slid to his side, and again, shook him. "Oh my fucking god, SPEAK TO ME! Just one word, ONE WORD, I beg you!"  
"Hey, man, seriously, get up now. Stop tricking us, GET UP!" Skoo continued lying. But it was useless, Blades was gone, nothing would change it.  
"BLADES!" Rya shouted for the last time and started to cry. Her tears rained down like a storm, and the rest of us joined in. I tried my best to fight my tears, but I couldn't and soon, my tears were flooding the house. I looked beside me to my friends. My vision was blurry because of the tears. But I could see that everyone was crying too, and the tears went down faster and harder every second.  
Why Blades? Why did he get the food poison? What did he eat? I thought. All these questions popped into my mind. Suddenly, a click came to my head. There was an answer. He got the food poison from the candy cane that Payon gave him.  
"PAYON!" I roared and pushed him onto the floor and pointed my Claymore onto his face. "Why did you have to kill Blades? He is innocent and our friend too!"  
"What are you talking about?" He shouted back. "I never did anything!"  
"The CANDY CANE!" I yelled. "What was that?"  
"If the candy canes had poison, you'd all be DEAD, I'd be the first to die too, and I ate the most."  
"Miraka saw your pour some weird colorless liquid onto the candy cane! THAT WAS MUST BE THE POISON! Why Payon? Why Blades? Why did you change so much?"  
"Yeah, what was that! That had to be the poison!" Miraka shouted. She was on my side.  
"I was trying to listen to your orders! You always sad the candy canes were dangerous, so I tried to wash it off. It was water, HONEST! Why would I kill Blades anyways? He IS my friend too, you know."  
"Water, it isn't! It's poison. You are always jealous of Blades because he keeps on teasing Rya! So now, you have come to get your revenge." I shouted, anger conquered the sadness of my brain. "You are jealous, SO YOU KILLED HIM! You snatched the candy cane from me so you can kill Blades." I stepped back, shocked. "Why, why?!"  
"I DIDN'T DO NO SHIT!" Payon roared back. "I am innocent, I NEVER THOUGHT OF KILLING BLADES, NEVER! Yeah, so I don't like him teasing Rya, but that's not the reason to kill my friend!"  
"Lies! LIES!" I shouted, not believing a word that came out of Payon's mouth. "I am not going to listen to you ever again! You have used me for years, and I didn't mind. But this time you have gone too far!" I gritted my teeth. I had to do something. I really wanted to grab my Claymore and stab him and chop him into a trillion slices. But, I couldn't. He WAS my friend. I couldn't be so unfair. I had to give him a chance. But I also need to let my anger out somehow! "You are going to pay for this." I shoved my Claymore back into its case and it settled onto my belt. I grabbed all my belongings and dumped in into my backpack I had when I was a novice. "We are not friends anymore! You are now my ENEMY! Blades, I will get revenge for you. Now you watch your back, I didn't kill you this time because we were still friends. BUT NOT ANYMORE! If you make another mistake, I'll always be there to clean you up!"  
"SUIT YOURSELF! You are blaming this one me, and it's not my fault! You'll see, Paroid. I'll get the evidence, and prove you wrong! You are smart for your WHOLE life, but this time, you have made a BAD mistake! You watch it too, Paroid. I'll be there to clean you up after I get the evidence."  
Angrily, I walked towards Blades and picked up his cold dead body. I'll get your revenge, Blades, don't worry. "Who is with me?" I asked the others. Although I could manage by myself, I always feared loneliness. "C'mon, you don't have to stand around with this lying bastard. He killed Blades! How could you stay with this murderous bastard?" I took one more glance around our house, where I had the happiest times of my life. But now, those memories had fades away and left my mind. Those happy times were the past, and now we face anger and sadness. "Fine, I'll go alone, like I always do!" I turned around facing the door, flipping my manteau to the other side, causing a nice "swishing sound". I always liked that sound, but this time it was different. Everything had changed, and I had to adjust. Angrily, I ran out the door, with Blades in my arms.  
"Paroid!" Rya yelled. She ran after me.  
"Rya! Rya! Aww.man, this had never happened! Come back!" Skoo yelled and ran after me.  
"Argh! Look what you guys did! It is bad enough for a death. You have destroyed our friendship, our home, our family! I hope you are happy for what you have done Payon. I am disappointed in you!" Evol grabbed his belongings and ran out the door, following Skoo.  
"Evol!" Miraka ran to the door but was stopped by Payon. "Miraka, you trust me, don't you?"  
"Yeah.I guess so," she replied weakly.  
"Stay with us, those stubborn idiots will get what they asked for. They ruined the year long friendships. It has split into two. Everything came from bad to worse. Whose fault is this? Not ours, but THEIRS! We have to wake them up, we have to teach them a lesson."  
  
* * * *  
  
"Paroid! Paroid!" I turned back. It was Rya, Skoo and Evol. "Paroid, let's go back, we're all friends, remember that." Rya tugged on my arm, pulling me back home.  
Rudely, I flung my arms and freed them from Rya's reach. "No, we are not friends anymore. We are enemies!"  
"Paroid, calm down," Skoo told me. "I am sure this is all a miscommunication. I mean, wow, it's bad enough for us losing Blades. We don't have to make it any worse."  
I grabbed Skoo by his shirt collar. "How can you be one of them? Payon killed Blades, and you know he did! How can you forgive a murderous bastard like him?!"  
"Wow, chill," Skoo replied. "I am not forgiving him, it's just I don't think its cool throwing our years of friendship behind. Yeah, I know, Blades may have died because of Payon. But you have no evidence, yet. Why don't we go back, and sort this out instead of causing a World War III? Huh? What do you say?"  
"You can go," I muttered coldly. "No way, am I heading back to a murderous bastard. He'll tell a bunch of lies about what actually happened." I sighed. "I can't believe even you have lost your mind. So it's Payon who did this, you don't have to help him in every possible way. It WAS his fault. You know it. Nice knowing ya, Skoo." I ran off, leaving Skoo behind.  
"Paroid!" Evol yelled. "Aww. man, Skoo. It's bad enough, don't make it any worse." They all ran after me.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Where are we going?" Evol asked me. "I am tired, we walked from Alberta to Prontera, and we are STILL walking. Can't we take a break somewhere?"  
"No," I replied coolly. "We have to get there before the sky darkens again."  
"But where are we heading to? Oh I know, I bet you want to go to a long walk to Morroc and then teleport back home! Let's skip the walk, I want to go back to Alberta and have a nice long nap," Skoo whined casually. "Besides, I bet you are tired and hungry too. And I hate the heat in Morroc, I can't stand it, reminds me of hell."  
"We are not going back there, that place is HELL. I can't stand Payon. Looking at him makes me feel sick. Fine, we won't go to Morroc, we'll settle in Geffen. Geffen is far enough from Alberta, they'd never find us," I explained.  
"Paroid, why do you always have to end things the hard way? Can't we turn back and talk about it? I am sure we can settle things easily," Rya persuaded.  
I shook my head. "We better get to Geffen faster," I ordered while increasing my pace. "Blades needs to be buried."  
"Yeah, let's get to Geffen and then invite everyone to see Blades's funeral," Rya suggested. "Then, we can sort this thing out."  
"No, Rya, we are the only ones burying Blades. No one else is going to come," I said.  
"But." Rya answered.  
"No buts," I interrupted. I was still very angry. "They will just ruin everything. I have had more than enough for today."  
  
* * * *  
  
I carried Blades's and turned a corner, with Rya and the others close behind me. I sighed, yet again, but this time, I sighed because I was relived. "Here we are," I said proudly for once. "Geffen."  
Skoo stretched and yawned. "About time we arrived. How does this sound? We run over to one of those cute girls who work for Kafra and she can warp us ALL back to Alberta. Then, we can go home, have dinner and get some rest. When the sun comes up, we can all sort things out." Without any of us, he ran up to a Kafra girl. "Hey there!" He winked. "Mind, giving us, a ride?" He laughed at his joke. "Ok, I am just kidding. We need...a whoa... easy man, easy with the Claymore. Let's talk this out, no need for fights."  
"Excuse me," I said, smiling. "I have some business to do with my friend for a second." I pushed Skoo into a hollow alley way. "What the fuck was that for? I never said I was going to go back and face Payon." I pulled back the Claymore from his neck carefully. "Sorry for the threat, I have been really stressed lately. C'mon, let's go find a good place to settle in. Then, we can go look for the Church, and organize the funeral for Blades." Blades still settled firmly in my arms. Yes, Blades trust me. I thought to myself, thinking he might hear my thoughts. Payon wouldn't get away with this.  
"Wow," Evol whispered to Rya, amazed. "First he is James Bond, trying to wipe everyone out with that Claymore. Now he is Santa Clause, trying to get a house for us. What's this? Mood swings?"  
Rya punched him in the gut, something Miraka always did. "C'mon, it's very hard for him already. Don't make it worse."  
"Ow, no wonder Payon always hated this. It hurts," he said wincing and slowly dropping to the floor. In no time, he was favoring his stomach while crouching down. "Never, do that again, please."  
I looked back at Evol and Rya. "Alright, let's go! What? What the. aww. Evol, not now. If you have to go to the washroom, at least head over to a washroom or something, don't do it out here. Alright, we won't look. Do your business and we'd carry on with our major one later," I said, turning away. Rya and Evol started to laugh. "Huh?"  
"Ow," Evol winced but continued to roll of the floor laughing. For the first time in quite a while, my friends were actually laughing.  
"Hey, man, if you go that way. it'll go everywhere won't it? Or is that the new fashion style?" I asked stupidly, trying to keep up the good mood.  
"Paroid!" Rya laughed. "I punched him the in gut, he wasn't going to the washroom."  
"You can be so dumb sometimes, Paroid," Skoo chuckled, shaking his head.  
"Punched him in the gut?" I joined in laughing. "Something Miraka would do!"  
Rya gave a small laugh and then there was an awkward silence. I had said the wrong thing. The others cared for me, and when I tried to make the others laugh, I always made a mistake. I sighed, for the trillionth time today. I could never do anything right when I was trying to lead a team or group.  
"Alright," I suggested. "Last one to the church owns us all dinner!" Then, I dashed towards the Geffen Church, with Rya hot on my heels.  
"Huh? What's going on? Hey! Where are you going?" Evol asked. "Oh, yeah, to the Church." He was always a bit slow on things.  
All of a sudden, our mood had changed dramatically. I guessed no one really reminded us of the situation that we were in now. I regretted to go into the Church, knowing that after all those hours of trying to get everyone back to high spirits, this funeral thing was going to ruin it all. But, this was for a friend. A friend which sacrifised himself to find out a traitor of our group, someone we needed to get rid of to awake the others. Without thinking anymore, I stepped into the Church and a priest immediately welcomed me. He dressed in white, with grayish hair but was very cleanly shaved.  
"Oh deary deary me," the priest said with a Scottish accent. "That's the sixtieth injury we have had today. Bring him here, and let me have a good look at him."  
"He left," I told him sadly. I looked at his name tag at the right side of his white tunic, it read:  
Mr. R Beaton  
Church Official of Geffen  
  
"Mr. Beaton is it? We are actually here for a funeral," I continued, still with the sad voice. "For one of the nicest friend I had met in my life, Blades." "Sorry to hear that buddy," he said, acting sad and threw a big book on me. "Please read through this book of safety rules before you go in, it's EXTREMELY dangerous in there. Of course, if you have read this, you don't have to read it again." I opened the book and read the first rule: "Don't jump, or else an earthquake may start!" I laughed but then covered it with a cough. The rules in here were gibberish! Gladly, I handed the book back to Mr. Beaton, "I have read it before, thank you." "Liar," Evol muttered and Rya slapped his mouth shut. "Very well then," Mr. Beaton announced. "Follow me." "You know, it would be much cheaper to ask Shish to make the funeral for us," Skoo suggested, as if he had forgotten. "Oh, sorry." I continued to carry Blades and follow Mr. Beaton, along with everyone until we reached a small room with a coffin in the middle. Couple of seats were placed along the sides of the room and a piano was placed at the right side. Immediately, Rya jumped onto the piano and said, "I am good with the piano, and Blades love a song that I know. I want to dedicate a song to him!" Without thinking that piano wasn't hers, she started to play a very beautiful song. I stood sadly, Blades used to listen to that song every day. "Hey, STOP! NONNOONONO!" Mr. Beaton yelled and we were all shocked. "In the rule book, under page 214, eighteenth line, it clearly stated: The piano will be operated by Church Officials and Priests only! Remember the safety rules young girl!" With that, Mr. Beaton ran for the safety rule book and threw it on Rya. "READ!" He turned back to us. "Sorry for the interruption, let's continue. Please, lay your friend onto the coffin provided." Sadly, I put Blades in as I was told. Mr. Beaton started to cast weird spells on him and light shattered in all directions. At the end, when he finished he closed the coffin half-way. "Let us all remember what he had given us all in our lives and hope he will rest in peace in heaven." "If he gets there," Skoo gave a snicker. Rya turned back and gave him an angry glare, but his eyes were battling tears. "Don't you say that again!" We all closed our eyes and prayed, hoping Blades would rest in peace and was taken to a better place. When I opened my eyes, the coffin was closed and Mr. Beaton pushed him through a door and we heard a loud CRASH! "What the fuck, what did you do to Blades? So, he is dead, you don't have to make it any worse!" I yelled furiously. "Accident, accident," Mr. Beaton said shaking his head. With a wave of his hand, the coffin came back up. "See, it's still alright." Again, he pushed it through a door, but this time the crash wasn't heard. "He may have left our world, but in our hearts, his soul and memories will always remain." With that, he closed the door and wrote: Blades, may the young swordsman rest in peace. A tear let out Rya's red eyes and I walked beside her. "C'mon, he isn't coming back, crying won't help. This is the fact, we shall get revenge for him. But first, we have to find a home to rest and settle in. Then, we will have a big feast and plan our revenge attack on Payon." "Why can't we sort." Her voice disappeared when I gave her an evil glare. "Don't you give me that trash talk again, I know what he did. You all do, now don't be stupid because he was your friend. He isn't anymore, we have to accept the facts. Now let's get moving," I finished my little speech with a cheerful voice, hoping I will regain a bit of the lost high spirits instead of making it worse. But I was sure I didn't do a good job of it. We marched down the quiet hallways of Geffen Church and pushed our way through the two wooden doors. There were couple of merchants outside of the Church but compared to Prontera, this was nothing. I started to head towards the west side of Geffen. "Where are we going?" Evol asked curiously but I could tell he was still feeling a bit unhappy about Blades's depart. "I dunno, but I think we can go to the inn and buy a room there? I doubt there are any houses that are being sold in Geffen," I replied. Skoo gave a laugh. "Haha, a room in an inn, I get that. So, who's going in first, Paroid? You or me? Oh, I know, let Evol enjoy it first," he winked. Evol turned to Skoo. "Huh? What about me?" he asked with a clueless look, as always. "Never mind," Skoo answered and gave me a wink. "Shut up! Just because I am the only girl here it doesn't mean you can tease me all you want," she said silently but her face was all red. "Yeah, Skoo, shut up," I agreed. I pointed towards the inn with a sign saying:  
  
ROOMS FOR SALE!  
  
Immediately, broke into a run. "Look, there's the inn! C'mon, let's go, I am starving!" "Looks like we have another Payon to deal with," Skoo laughed and disappeared into the inn.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Wow, what an inn!" Rya exclaimed sarcastically. She looked around. The lobby of the inn was in a horrible condition. The ceiling of the inn was full of spiders, and the wall was half destroyed. The wall paper was falling down and the paint was chipped off. Rya gave a high pitched scream because of the spiders and hid behind me. "Geezes, it's just a spider," I said laughing. "It's not like a Whisper mob or anything." "I..am..scared of spiders," Rya replied with a shaky voice and let out another screamed. My ears throbbed with pain. "Get them away!" I sighed and walked towards the front counter. A bald man with a nice waiter tunic and glasses greeted me. He must be a those check-in buddies, I called them receptionists. "Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?" "I want to buy a room," I explained and the waiter gave a snicker. "Alright! Not for THAT! I just want to buy a room to live in, since there are no houses for sale anywhere in Geffen." I threw the waiter a small bag of 1,000 zeny. "This should be more than enough for this torn and boring place." "Hey, you take that back!" the receptionist yelled and threw the bag back at me. "Ours room are named the highest-quality rooms in the whole Rune- Midgard!" "Doesn't seem like it," I replied coldly looking around. "Maybe you need thicker glasses. It's boring here anyways; I don't think it's high-class enough for entertainment." He glared at me with angry eyes. "If you wanted entertainment, you can at least ask," he told me and clapped his hands. A clown appeared right beside him and started to juggle flaming torches. "See, we have entertainment, dangerous, funny, hilarious, you name it, we have it." Rya gave another scream and I ducked down. "Geezes, stop doing that! He's NOT a spider!" "Cloowwwnssss!!!!" she cried. "I hate clowns! Get him away, AWAY!!!" I let out another sigh. "Anything else you are scared of?" I asked with a whiny voice. "Yeah," she replied with a shaky voice. "Cockroaches, loneliness, heights." She went on and on, giving me a big list. "Alright, I get the point," I interrupted. I turned back to the receptionist, "SEE! What kind of entertainment is THAT?" The receptionist was speechless. "Fine, I'd lower the price, since it isn't just right for you like we advertised. Fifty thousand zeny for a room it is!" "No way! I am not as stupid as you think. Don't try to rip me off!" I threw him a bigger bag of zeny. "That's twenty-thousand zeny, now give me our room!" He took the bag of zeny and put it in his trousers. "Hey, this is not the lottery; we are not giving any of our rooms out for free you know." I gave him a rude glance. "Fine fine, follow me. Just to tell you, that twenty thousand zeny only includes the price of the room, the water fee, electricity fee and all the other crap is extra. You guys have to pay it yourself." I laughed. "And if we don't? The bills are addressed to the inn, not to us." "I'll kick you out!" I pointed to my Claymore. "Gee, I haven't chopped anything for a while, have I?" "No, you haven't," Skoo joined in. "Maybe we can chop something TOGETHER. But, I don't want to walk very far, do you think we can find something to chop here?" "Fine fine! Geezes, next thing I know is that I am giving the room away for free." "That's a great idea!" I told him. "Why don't we do just that?" "I'll shut up now." We continued to follow him until the end of a brightly lit hallway. The hallway looked a lot better than the lobby itself, but it still looked old and worn out. "I got ripped off," I declared. "I mean twenty-thousand zeny for crap like this." "Wait until you see your house before you give those comments," the receptionist muttered coldly. "I bet you'd change that after you have seen it." Skoo gave a fake laugh. "As if! Alright, fine, even if I trust you, think about the quality of this shit. There is no food or water provided here and we have to walk to get to places. I hate walking." "Oh my god, you dumbasses!" the receptionist roared. "That's no way to treat your customers," I teased. "You are supposed to treat them with respect. One thousand zeny off the deal." "Well then, I won't sell the room to you!" "It's not your choice whether you sell the room or not. You just work here and I think he will be pretty happy for nineteen thousand zeny to appear in his office tomorrow morning," I said and grabbed the bag of zeny. Then, I took a thousand zeny away from it, slipped it into my pocket and threw the bag back at the receptionist. "Now, still selling the room to us?" The receptionist gave us a angry glare. "I.have never seen a more annoying bunch of customers!" he roared. "FOLLOW ME! Just in case you haven't NOTICED, there is a subway and there are restaurants just outside. So do NOT make silly comments about anything you see here again!" "Wow, it's amazing who made a subway here," Rya commented. "Now, don't diss the great Clay Henry! It took him nearly two years to make a subway all the way here." The receptionist was interrupted and Skoo's singing filled the long hallway. "It's Henry, CLAY HENRY!" Skoo sang. "The fireman and the caravan from subway!" I sighed and hit my forehead hard with a slap, then rubbing my head to ease the pain. Skoo had made another stupid mistake. After couple of loud musical moments, he finally ended his rather "beautiful" song. "Subway, EAT FRESH!" "You are a dumbass," I declared after he finished. "I guess this receptionist doesn't lie as much as I expected. You know what a SUBWAY is, Skoo?" I asked. "Yeah, that shop which those foot-long sandwiches," he drooled over his words. "I am hungry, let's ditch this room for later and let's go eat. Where's Subway, er. Mr. Receptionist?" "We are not going to ride a subway," I muttered. Skoo started to laugh. "Oh my god, ride a subway! HAHAHAHA!" I slapped my forehead again. "Skoo, a subway, S-U-B-W-A-Y, not that bun shop you keep referring to, but a place you take a train to get to places." "Oh," Skoo's laughter died. "Shit."  
I could tell the receptionist was fed up with us, because when he came across the next empty room, he threw us in. "Here's your room, I hope you don't ruin it, because we don't give refunds to fags like you."  
"Oh my god, why aren't there refunds for crappy rooms like this?" I asked.  
The receptionist's head steamed. "GOOD DAY!" He stomped out of our sight and Evol closed the door.  
"You don't have to be so mean to him," Rya told me. "He has feelings too."  
"I am not Bill Gates, the more I diss him, the more reasons I have to take away some cash. Besides, I ripped him off pretty bad too." I stared at the "room" we bought. Right ahead of us was a small hallway, containing exactly four sleeping rooms and two bathrooms. I guess we could all have a sleeping room, but then the we (the boys) would have to share one bathroom, while Rya got one to herself. On my left, there was a small living room, with television (as Skoo called it, I had never seen it myself) and all sorts of electronics and entertainment. Over to my right, there was a small kitchen, with all the cooking utilities all lined up in wooden cupboards. A refrigerator kept different kinds of mouthwatering foods, from tender juicy beef to fresh shrimps.  
"Holy shit! You ripped him off good, Paroid. Our old house was thirty thousand zeny and it was wooden and crappy!" Evol exclaimed and went to hug the television. "Wow, I never dreamed that we would have this much entertainment and stuff! What?" I gave him a glare and noticed Rya frowning. "Huh? Ohhhh, sorry."  
"Gee," I muttered. "We have said enough about what had happened. We are trying to forget about it here."  
"YEAH!" Skoo joined it, treating Evol like a baby. "Bad Evol! You should get a spanking!" With that, Skoo got up and kicked Evol's butt. "That, was for being such a bad boy! Now let that be a lesson to you."  
"Alright," I declared standing up. "Who wants some er.Dunch?"  
"What the hell is Dunch?" Evol asked.  
"Dinner and lunch combined."  
"It's called an afternoon tea," Rya told me silently.  
"Whatever, don't be so British and Chinesey."  
"What are we going to have?" Skoo asked.  
I grinned. "Your favourite, subway." I walked to the kitchen and prepared the "Dunch". When Dunch was to be served, I laid down the sandwiches and we all bit at it furiously, without manners, except for Rya, of course. She nibbled at it slowly, but managed to finish six inches of her foot-long sandwich. "Wow," I said with a surprised voice. "the most I have seen you eat. You are going to get fat if you continue eating like that."  
She smiled. "Well, I have been getting a bit hungry lately."  
I laughed. "I know why."  
"Why?"  
"Well, you see, Payon isn't here to take your meals away from him." Evol gave me the glare I used on him earlier today. "What? Oh yeahhhh, sorry."  
"Gee," Evol muttered. "We have said enough about what had happened. We are trying to forget about it here, too!"  
"YEAH!" Skoo joined it, treating me like a baby. "Bad, Paroid! You should get a spanking!" With that, Skoo got up and kicked my butt and I fell off my chair. Rya laughed and Evol gave a snicker. "That, was being such a bad boy! Now let that be a lesson to you."  
I laughed. "Yeah, my mistake, deserved it. Wait until you make that mistake. I'd kick you back to mainland China."  
Skoo grinned. "As if! I bet you I won't, fine, I'd probably make the mistake sooner or later. But I bet Ramza will make the mistake first!" Evol and I both glared at him. "What? Oh, shit."  
"Gee," Evol and I muttered in unison. "We have said enough about what had happened. We are trying to forget about it here!"  
I got up and slowly walked my way around to Skoo's chair. Just when I was about to kick him, Rya did it for me. "Yeah!" Rya joined it, treating Skoo like a baby. "Bad, Skoo!"  
"You should get a spanking! Blah blah blah, I know the rest," Skoo replied.  
I couldn't believe it. After all that had happened, they were treating this as a joke, as if nothing had happened. They had done this much for me, and when they noticed I was trying to do something for them, they acknowledged it greatly. Where could I find a better bunch of friends?  
I walked back to my chair and sat back. We sat in a bit of silence, maybe because we were tired. We had been walking and the whole day after all, and I hadn't got a lot of sleep. I yawned, "Well, I am off to my sleeping room," I declared and ran to the closest one to the boy's bathroom, beating Evol and Skoo to it. "The bathroom in front of my sleeping room is the boy's bathroom. Don't whine, Rya here is the only girl, give her some respect. Good night." I closed the door, but realized I forgot to say something and stepped back out. "Oh yeah, Evol and Skoo, watch those hormones, Rya is the only girl here after all. She needs her privacy."  
"Speak for yourself! You are a boy too!" They replied in unison and disappeared into their own rooms.  
I walked into my room, and although there were many things in it, there was only one thing that I could see, the bed. Immediately, I jumped on it and pulled the covers to my shoulders. I usually thought before I slept, planning what I was going to do tomorrow and trying to solve problems. But today, it was an exception, my mind was empty and I fell asleep almost instantly.  
  
* * * *  
  
Sunlight filled my room when morning came. I tossed and turned, trying to get more sleep. Suddenly, the door of my room burst open and an unknown black figure tapped my shoulders. "Wake up, Paroid! You have been sleeping for twenty-seven hours!" I noticed the voice immediately, it was only Rya.  
"But Mommy, I don't want to go to SCHOOL today, I wanna stay home and make cookies with you!" I teased tiredly and covered my face with my pillow.  
"What the hell! I am not old enough to be your mom yet, you are older than me."  
"Then respect the elders and let the old one sleep," I told her and threw my blanket over the pillow and I.  
Rya threw my blanket away. "WAKE UP! Or else, I don't know what Evol or Skoo will do to me. Besides, we are hungry, let's enjoy another meal with each other!"  
"Aw.cook yourself and eat without me. Evol and Skoo won't rape you, I don't think they can anyways."  
"Just get up!"  
"WHY?! Gee, don't be such a mom, first it is spanking Skoo, now you are waking me up. You aren't supposed to be in my room in the first place anyways! Now OUT!"  
"Fine, I'll tell you! The receptionist is banging on our door for HOURS, I think he wants something!"  
"Holy shit! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I sprang right. "Gee, what does that ass want again?"  
As I stomped out of my room and through the hallway, I saw Evol and Skoo. They were sweating like mad and they each held a controller, staring at the television as if there were no tomorrow. At once, I noticed they were playing video games. "Oh my god! Why didn't you open the door and talk to him?"  
"I was going to," Skoo answered honestly. "But then, this Playstation Two caught looks much more interesting than the receptionist."  
"Oooo." Evol laughed, still staring at the television while his fingers were rapidly hitting the buttons on his controller. "Burrrnnn."  
I sighed and went to the door. Even inside, I could hear the receptionist yelling at the tops of his lungs. "I know you are in there!"  
I opened the door. "Please, shut the fuck up. Some of us WERE trying to sleep, Mr. Receptionist."  
"Well, ssoooorrrryyyy." he said, obviously happy of bothering us. "And I have a name too."  
"Yeah, I heard your name was Mr. Receptionist."  
"NO, IT ISN'T! My name is much more knightly than that. Can't you tell I was a knight before I switched to becoming a merchant?"  
"Oh, an ex-knight eh? Then I know your name, Sir Spazz-a-lot. If you didn't get the joke because you are such a dumbass, I mean, who will switch from a knight to a merchant?" I heard Skoo give a loud snicker. "Anyways, it means you sure spazz a lot."  
"NO! MY NAME IS HIIRO!" the receptionist roared. "In case you didn't notice, it means I am a HERO."  
I looked at him closely and my eyebrows twitched. "Doesn't look like it. Bah, whatever, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE THEN, HIIRO?"  
"I am here to give you your bill and this," he handed me a bill and a bag full of groceries. "I have noticed you opened your refrigerator and took some food out for sandwiches. Here is your bill for the food you guys have eaten. This bag of grocery here is to be put back into the fridge. It contains the food you guys have brought out and eaten."  
"What the hell?!" I thundered. "I thought the food was for free!"  
"Not everything is for free in this house," Hiiro explained. "You have to pay for any broken or missing things in this house, food, electricity, water and a telephone bill."  
"What the hell? You never told me that when we bought the house!" I complained. "And what the heck is a .fellyphone?"  
"Telephone," Hiiro corrected almost instantly.  
"Whatever, fellyphone, rigaphone, chowmaiphone, they are all around the same thing."  
"I don't know where you came from, but I have never heard of those kinds of telephones you mentioned. By the way, there is a telephone in all your sleeping rooms, washrooms and one in the kitchen."  
"What the hell! I don't know what a fellyphone is, I am not going to pay for it!"  
"Well, it's for your convenient, it's a good thing, not a bad. You can talk to people without finding the person itself. We don't charge any extra zeny except for the handling fee."  
"Handling fee?" I looked down at my bill. There was a long list of what we had taken out of the fridge yesterday, all costing us a small price. But, below all of that there was a small category that was labeled:  
  
Handling Fee (for staff(s) helping you get the food back) Cost: 100 Zeny Total Costs: 369 Zeny  
  
"No way, am I paying the handling fee, not to Sir Spazz-a-lot anyways," I grinned and heard Rya give a silent laugh. I threw Hiiro 269 zeny and kicked him out the door.  
"That's not 369 zeny! Give me another 100 zeny or else I'll barge." BAM! I slammed the door right on his face and started laughing. But my laugher soon died down as Hiiro rushed back in.  
"How the hell.?" Skoo started.  
"Master key," Hiiro explained with a grin. "It's an emergency case thing, now give me the 100 zeny or I'd leave."  
I walked over to the telephone. "It says here," I read, pointing at a piece of paper on the phone. "If there is an emergency, we shall dial 911. Well then, I guess I can break your key now. HAND IT OVER!"  
"No! You don't understand. This key is used to open your house door if you are trapped inside or outside. It is ALSO used for opening the door to our customer's house to REMIND them that they owe the hotel some zeny."  
"That's not an emergency," I pointed out.  
"It is, if YOU are stuck. You'd treat it like one."  
"Then what does this 911 thing do?"  
"It's an emergency number for real emergencies, like fire, crimes and injuries, stuff like that. But then, only staffs should dial it, because they expect the inn to be in great danger when it's dialed. If it isn't, they charge us a whole lot. Anyways, where's the 100 zeny?! If you don't pay me right now, I'll have to KICK YOU OUT!!!" Rya gave a loud gasp, but I laughed. "Bring it on," I smiled. I looked back at the phone and picked up the receiver. "So you dial a code with these number buttons, I see. Hmm. let's test this fellyphone out. I don't know any of my friends having a fellyphone, so I guess I'll just dial this." I pressed the 9 button and the 1 button twice after and laughed. "NO! You put that receiver down!" Hiiro dove at me but Skoo kicked him back onto the floor. "Now, don't be so eager, Paroid here doesn't want you." "Hello? Oh yes, this is the Geffen Inn, we are on fire and there are thieves everywhere! Come quick!" I yelled in the phone and hung up. "Have fun, Spazz-a-lot." "Why you. MY BOSS IS GOING TO FIRE ME!" "That's the whole point, Spazz-a-lot," Skoo laughed. "But.I have been doing a great job all my life, perfect at everything." "Nice knowing ya," I said coolly and waved him goodbye as he ran out the door. Skoo was the first to crack up. "I can't wait to see him pack his things and leave." "I'll say," I laughed. The laugher died down for a second but then we heard a loud voice which went, "A FAKE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN A FAKE CALL?" Together, we all rolled around the floor, laughing.  
  
* * * *  
  
Hiiro was very lucky. He made up some excuse about a small child playing with the fun, and his boss believed him. He saved his job but learned a valuable lesson indeed. From then on, he never bothered us ever again. Days were starting to get boring. There weren't a lot to do anyways. The inn supported us with all the food we ate and there were machines to help us do most of our chores. We spent most of the time playing games but they were starting to get boring. Eventually we started to get bored of them. "You know, I am starting to get really bored," Skoo pointed out one day. "I noticed," I answered instantly. "There is nothing to do here, I mean back then at least we had to keep ourselves busy do all kinds of chores to maintain a living, but now it's like too easy," Evol explained. "I know, I know," I repeated. There was an awkward silence for a bit, Rya opened her mouth several times to speak, but she never had the courage. It must be something about the others. "Alright Rya, say it, I won't get mad." She stared down on to the carpet. "Paroid, can't we just get along with the others again? It was much better with them around. I mean, I don't think it's anyone's fault for Blades's death, no one wanted it to happen, right?" "I think you forgot about Payon, remember what he did? You saw, you heard. You should know that if we go back all of a sudden, it means we were wrong, and Payon might do the same thing again. Who knows who it will be next time? Me? Skoo? Evol? I dunno!" "C'mon, Paroid, maybe it's all a misunderstanding, maybe we can talk this out!" Rya continued persuading me. "Rya, I wanna go back too. But it's just, I don't want to live with a murderous bastard. He may come out lurking for another dead friend again. I don't want to risk losing another one of you guys. You are the only ones in the whole world who ever cared for me." "But." Rya started but I slammed the door to my room. "You know him," I heard Skoo speak loudly, but I was sure he was not trying to let me hear. "He's stubborn and selfish, just like Payon. He doesn't listen a lot, just let him, someday, he may change his mind." "But we have to do something, maybe even speed up the process." Rya said, but her voice was too soft, I wasn't sure what I heard was real. "Maybe, just maybe, we can work with the others." Skoo suggested. "Shh..." I heard Evol say. "He might hear you." "Gee, it's Rya speaking, who could hear her voice from a shut door. Besides, it Paroid, haven't you heard Payon call Paroid a Chinese deaf boy?" But for once, I could make out most of what they said. I jumped down onto my bed and stared at the door, "Gee, you can't even block noises well. No wonder this house is only worth nineteen thousand zeny."  
  
* * * * 


End file.
